Nachitoches Meat Pies

 Nachitoches LA (pronounced Nack-a-tish by locals to distinguish it from its sister city from the same era Nacogdoches TX) is one of those destination Christmas towns that you have to visit at least once. The town in northern Lousiana is along the Mississippi river which allows it to have access to Gulf oysters but otherwise is surrounded by coniferous hills like being in the Appalachian mountains. The town decorates the banks of the river with lights for Christmas and usually has to make artificial snow to create the white Christmas feel. My wife and I visited in December 2010.

Aside from it's Christmas celebrations the town is known for its recreated French colonial fort from the town's founding and it's signature meat pies. The most famous restaurant in Nachitoches for meat pies is Lasyone's. My buddy Jay Francis and I used their recipe. We used a shortcut by enclosing the meat filling inside flour tortillas that we closed by moistening the edges with water and then pressed closed with a fork rather than making the traditional dough. Make sure you have a lot of hot sauce to eat them with. We liked to dash each bite with different hot sauces. Stellar Gourmet in Austin has some great tasting hot sauces with distinctive flavors and not as much heat. Their 

Lasyone's sign is a giant meat pie

Nachitoches Meat Pies

From Real Cajun by Donald Link

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb ground beef

1 Tbsp salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp ground white pepper

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

1 medium jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

4 plum tomatoes, diced

1 tsp dried thyme

4 bay leaves

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp water

1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced (about ½ cup)

5 dashes Louisiana hot sauce

Meat Pie Dough, chilled

1 egg, lightly beaten

Vegetable oil for frying

Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat, salt, cayenne, paprika, chili powder, white pepper, cumin, and black pepper and cook, using a metal spatula to break up the meat, for 5-8 minutes, or until the meat is lightly browned.

Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, tomatoes, dried thyme, bay leaves, and Worcestershire sauce and cook, stirring, for an additional 5-10 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated and the vegetables have softened.

Dust the flour over the meat and add the water, stirring to combine (this should tighten up the mixture enough so it won’t leak moisture when it’s encased in the dough). Stir in the scallions and hot sauce and transfer the mixture to a baking pan to cool for 20 minutes at room temperature and at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to prepare the pies, line two baking sheets with parchment paper and a dusting of flour. Divide the dough into four even sections to make it easier to work with. Return three of the sections to the refrigerator. Dust the counter with a sprinkling of flour and roll out the first section until it’s just under ¼ inch thick. Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter (or a similar size bowl or jar lid), cut the dough into rounds. Save the scraps; they can be rerolled if needed.

Lightly brush the outer edges of each circle with beaten egg. Place 2 ½ Tbsp of filling in the center of each round. Fold the circle over the filling to make a half circle. Using the back side of fork tines, press around the edges to seal the pie. Transfer the pies to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining dough sections.

When you fill a baking sheet, place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes so the dough stays firm when you fry it. You can also freeze the uncooked pies. Just freeze them on the sheet pan first, and then when fully frozen, transfer them to a plastic freezer bag.

To fry the pies, heat 2 ½ inches of oil in a large cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven to 350F. Fry the chilled pies in batches of 4 or 5 at a time, cooking for about 8 minutes, until golden. Frozen pies will need 12-14 minutes. Transfer the cooked pies to a sheet pan lined with paper towels or newspaper, and keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

Makes 16 pies.